Hi folks,
Another day, another failed electronic. This time it is a cheap $8 hard drive USB connection kit which lets you power up any IDE and SAT drive (HD, optical, floppy) and connect to USB to access.
The kit comes with a separate power brick (like the one shown here) which outputs to 4-wire power connector like you see from CPU supplies... and also a SATA adapter if you have a SAT drive instead. There is a separate data cable which has USB on one end and the other end has 3 different options to connect to IDE or SATA or other IDE-like connection with fewer pins (floppy?).
Have a look at the power supply. Nothing but bare bones and no regulatory/safety markings of any kind. It takes 120V mains and outputs 5v and 12v to power the 4-pin standard CPU power connector for IDE drives (or SATA with a conversion cable). The LED used to power on when it was plugged in the wall. No more.
Smell test seems to point to the side near the mains. I don't think the fuse shorted, and I can test the diodes and cap no problem (haven't got to it yet). But yet somehow I suspect that power MOSFET with the crappy heat sink and corroded legs?
I had the think plugged into a drive overnight for a backup and even the whole day, I unplugged it from the drive when backup was done, and when I went to plug it into another drive it was dead. I wonder if it got blown then through some short failure. I'll be to play around but I may not want to bother... I have some CPU supplies in the garage which can be used instead but this was more convenient (but piss-poor design).
Thoughts anyone?